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Illinois 58th District State Representative Newsletter |  |
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There has been much publicized about transit the last few months, but most of the news has been written with an eye toward Chicago and the "CTA bailout," so I want to give more details about what the new law includes for the suburban areas like ours. I have been a strong proponent of a comprehensive transit bill because of transit's importance to the economic strength of our region.
Many much-needed governance reforms and pension reforms are part of the transit legislation. Because of these unprecedented reforms, the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois (TFI) voted to support the transit proposal. This group does not support any but the most essential and deserving increases. Metropolis 2020, a coalition of business leaders, reported the cost of "doing nothing" on transit would be $2 billion/year and also urged the passage of the bill. The CTA pension and retiree health care systems were on the verge of collapse. The transit bill (agreed to by the CTA union workers and management) reduces benefits, increases employee contributions, provides financial oversight by the Auditor General and is funded by a real estate transfer tax imposed by the Chicago City Council. This takes affect when a property is sold in Chicago. The CTA "bail out" is paid for in the CTA service region. The Auditor General report released last March included recommendations in the areas of planning, governance and funding. The transit bill addressees these recommendations by: 1) providing authority for the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) to coordinate the three service boards of CTA, Metra and Pace; 2) changing the make-up of the RTA and service governing boards to reflect the population shifts from the city to the suburbs (one new seat on both RTA and Metra boards for Lake County), and 3) developing a new funding formula to provide fair and long-term operating funding for the next 10 years, shifting 52% of operating revenue to Metra and Pace with 48% for CTA. This bodes well for our district. There are two other benefits that could help the suburbs. Metra has been given $1 billion in bonding authority which could help fund laying additional track to enable more express trains in and out of Chicago. This is a constant complaint from our citizens who want flexible, faster transit. The transit bill sets aside $20 million for a suburban mobility fund. The fund gives collar counties where there are no fixed routes the opportunity to fund new and innovative transit. As always, I was looking out for suburban interests. During the last minutes before the final vote on transit, I interceded with Speaker Madigan to kill an amendment which would have allowed the real estate transfer tax to be imposed by an appointed CTA board rather than an elected Chicago City Council. I heard from so many of my constituents regarding this tax and I feel strongly that only elected officials, who are accountable at the ballot box, should have taxing authority. Our mass transit system has been funded by a .25% sales tax in the five collar counties (DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will) and 1% in Cook County and has not been increased for 25 years. The transit law adds an additional .25% to provide the needed funds to meet the growing demands of operating the transit system, and at the same time requires the adoption of a strategic plan, annual budgets and regular audits, coordinated fares and services, and increased public participation. Riders are required to pay their share of the costs for use of the system and will also see fare increases. All benefits from this revenue return to the county where it is collected. The county boards will allocate these funds to pay for road, transit and public safety projects. In Lake County, this will generate $30 million/year providing revenue for bonds that can be issued to enhance transit and improve the roads and bridges to start the important work of reducing our traffic gridlock. This local money will also be available to leverage additional state and federal monies to insure the region is economically viable and attractive to employers. I disagree with the way our Governor uses the amendatory veto to create new legislation, such as providing free transit to seniors. We already provide half-priced senior fares. I also disagree with the timing of his proposals. The Governor could have negotiated at the table rather than drawing out the transit funding issue into 2008. I support Senate Bill 1409, the trailer bill that passed the House linking free fares to the Circuit Breaker income level of $23,000 for seniors. Circuit Breaker provides benefits in the form of property tax relief, prescription drug benefits, and license plate discounts to Illinois seniors and persons with disabilities based on income criteria. The trailer bill includes accountability reporting to analyze how much money is coming in to the collar counties and how it is being spent. The bill is expected to be called for a vote in the Senate in February. We are now working on a capital bill sorely needed to fund, among other things, our aging infrastructure. I will continue to keep you updated as we move forward.
I will be holding town hall meetings with Senator Susan Garrett throughout my district on Saturday, March 1, 2008. Please save the date and plan to attend one of them at a location convenient to you. I will be sending out a special e-vite shortly.
Each year, 8 one-year scholarships are available from the State Board of Education for students residing in my district. The scholarship is a full tuition waiver for the entire 2008-2009 school year. It does not include fees or room and board. The applications are available on my website and are due in my district office April 4.
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